Door-operating mechanism



H. S. HART.

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 26, mm.

v I la m 1.

H. s. HART. DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM- APPLICATION FILED SEPT 26, 1919.

Patented J 11110 7, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- UN TED STATES PATENT s.

REY S. HART, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 NATIONAL DUMP CA1?) COM.

PAN'Y, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DOOROPERATING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 7, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY S. HART, a citizen of the United States, residin at Chicago, in the county of Cook and tate of Ilhnois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Qperatmg Mechanism, of which the followmg 1s a specification.

This invention relates to door operatmg mechanism for railway cars.

The object of my invention is to s mplify and improve door 0 crating mechanism for railway cars, where y the movement of the doors may be controlled efficiently, and whereby the doors when supported in closed position will be retained positively and prevented from sagging to overcome leakage.

This and other objects are accompllshed by means of the arrangement dlsclosed on the accompanying sheets of drawlngs, 1n which J Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevatlon of a railway car embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectiona view of the same car, showing the doors in open and closed positions;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlar ed sectional view of my door operating mec anism; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevation of the same.

The various novel features of my invention will be apparent from the following description and drawings, and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the fi ures of the drawings, it will be noted that have shown a general service railway car, having sides 10, ends 11 and a floor which in this instance, includes a plurality of side dump doors 12, which preferably are pivoted at 13 along their inner edges to the center sill construction 14.-

-These doors when closed occupy a horizontal position and preferably extend the full length of the car, there being any desired number of floor doors on each side of the car.

Referringto Fig. 2, it will be noted that the left hand floor door 12 is in its raised or closed position, and that the right hand door is in its open position for side dumping purposes, and in such position is supported by a stop member 15.

This invention has to do primarily with door operating mechanism. This mechanism includes a shaft 16, preferably having hexagonal or squared portions, there preferably being an operatin shaft in each quarter of the car. Aflixed to the hexagonal or squared portions of each of the shafts 16 are a plurality of arms 17, which preferably extend at right angles with respect to the shaft 16, and are spaced along the latter.

As shown in. Figs. 1, 3, and 4, and at the left hand s de of Fig. 2, the door 12 is in closed pos1t1on a nd is held or supported in said closed pos1t1on by the arms 17, which in thls pos1t1on extend vertically and press upward y agalnst the doors 12 near their outer edges. Preferably there are two arms 17 under each door, one at each end thereof. The shaft 16, when cooperating with the arms 17 to retaln the doors 12 in closed pos1t1on, occup1es the lower inner end of a plurallty of arcuate slots 18 which are formed in the cross beams 19. These slots 18 extend downwardly and inwardly from the s des of the car and from a point substant1ally on a horizontal line from the doors When 1n closed position to a point considerably below and under the doors in the same pos1t1on. The shaft, in each case, therefore, moves downwardly and inwardly to reach its support ng positlon, and upwardly and outwardly in moving to its non-supporting posltion.

Adjacent each of the arcuate slots 18 is a rack member 20, which is secured to the car frame structure, said racks meshing with gears 21 fixed to the shafts 16. These racks are ad acent the associated shaft and also extend downwardly and inwardl to conform with the shaft movements. Ti; permit the doors 12 to drop into an 0 en position for dumplng purposes, the sha ts 12 on the left hand side of the car will be rotated in a clockwise direction, and the shafts 16 on the right hand side of the car will be rotated 1n a counter-clockwise direction. As the shafts are thus rotated, the arms 17 gradually move out of a supporting osit1on wlth respect to the doors, and the s afts 16 move laterally outward from a position under the doors to a position beyond the outer edge of the doors, whereupon the latter are free to move into a full open position.

' During this opening movement, it will be understood that the doors are lowered gradu right hand side ofFig Q, the shafts 16 bement of the latter.

ing shown in the outerend of the arcuate slot 18, and the arms 17 extending vertically downward.

The doors may be closed in any desired succession, being independent of each other. Said doors are raised'directly and individually into closed position in a manner fully disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 27 8,408, filed February 21, 1919, now Patent No. 1,318,444, issued October 14,1919.

The means for thus closing each of the doors includes a handle 22 having a slot 23 for slidably receiving a pin 24 fixed in a bracket 25 secured to the under side of the door. When the-door. is completely lifte'd'by the handle 22 into closed position, the outer end of the handle may be moved laterally to overlie a supporting portion 26- of a bracket 27 whereby the door temporarily is locked in closed position. It will be understood that the connection between the bracket 25 and handle 22 is made very loose to permit sidewise and lengthwise move- It is understood also that the shaft 16 with its arms 17 form the final locking means for the doors, the handles 22 being moved away from the bracket portion 26 or temporary locking position by the shaft in each case engaging projections 28 on the handles, the handles 22 being guided in their movements by a handle bracket 29 and an associated cam 30 on each handle as clearly set forth in my said patent. Accordingly when the shafts 16 are moved into a non-supporting position, they doors are all free to move into an open position. I

If the doors are not completely ra1sed by the handles 22, the final closing movement may be made by the arms 17 which act in a cam-like manner lifting upwardly. By providing a plurality of these arms 17 for engaging a single door, the door in each case 'is prevented from sagging or bulging, which would cause leakage. It will be noted that the arms 17, which engage the doors adjacent the side edges thereof, permit the location of the supporting shaft at a point considerably below the doors when the shaft is in supporting position. By reason of this fact and because of the location of these arms on the shaft at points adjacent the door edges, the doors will be engaged by the arms'and held closed even if the door is bulged downwardly in the center, or if the door is bent down at one corner, the opposite corner will still be engaged by one of the arms, so that the door will be held in closed position. The shafts 16 may be op- 1,seo,ew

erated by any suitable mechanism well and a shaft carrying projecting means for engaging said doors for holding the latter in said given position.

3. In a general service car having a plurality of doors, means for directly moving said doors into a given position individually, a shaft, and meanscarried b said shaft for engaging said doors for holding the latter in said given position.

4. In a general service car having a plurality of doors, means for directly moving said doors into a given position individually, a shaft movable under the doors and movable from under the doors, means for guiding the movement of said shaft, and means mounted on said shaft for engaging said doors when the shaft is in a position to support said doors through the means mounted thereon. Y 5. In a general service car having a door, means for directly lifting said door toa closed position, a movably mounted shaft, and arms carried by said shaft which swing upwardly for engaging opposite ends of the door for supporting the latter in closed position.

6. In a general servicecar, the combination of a door hung for up and down swingmg movement, a shaft movable downwardly and inwardly to reach a supporting positlon under said door in a given position, and

an arm mounted on said shaft and swung I upwardly to engage and support said door. 

